Last space shuttle astronauts visit Dryden, pay tribute to workers for support

  • Published
  • By Kenji Thuloweit
  • 95th Air Base Wing Public Affairs
EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. --  "When we were driving out to the shuttle [on launch day] and I looked out the window at all the people and media, it was only then we absorbed the full effect of this."

Astronaut and space shuttle mission STS-135 commander Chris Ferguson recalled the day that ended a historic and unprecedented era in United States history.

That day was July 8, the last time a space shuttle would be launched into space.

Ferguson and three other members of Space Shuttle Atlantis' flight crew paid a visit to NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center at Edwards to meet with Dryden employees who have supported the shuttle program for the past 30 years.

Ferguson and fellow astronauts Doug Hurley, who piloted Atlantis, and mission specialists Rex Walheim and Sandra Magnus, gave a video presentation and answered questions from a packed Dryden auditorium.

Several local news media organizations also were on hand.

Throughout the morning, the space travelers answered questions from Dryden workers, who were later provided the opportunity to get autographs.

Walheim, a graduate of the United States Air Force Test Pilot School here, said Edwards is the space shuttle's "home away from home." He also said it was great to return to Edwards, "the cradle of aviation."

The four veteran astronauts flew the Atlantis to the International Space Station for a13-day mission. The shuttle launched from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The mission delivered supplies and spare parts to the space station to keep it functioning for the next year. The team also installed an experiment designed to demonstrate and test the tools, technologies and techniques needed to robotically refuel space satellites.

Atlantis returned to Earth July 21, landing at Kennedy after 200 orbits and traveling more than 5.2 million miles in space.

STS-135 was Atlantis' 33rd mission and the 37th shuttle flight dedicated to space station assembly and maintenance. It was also the 135th and final mission of NASA's Space Shuttle Program.

When asked if there was any extra pressure on being the last shuttle mission crew, Ferguson likened the mission to baseball.

"It's like a pitcher coming in during the bottom of the ninth inning when his team is up by one run. You just want to go in there and get the save without anything going wrong," he said.

"I'm glad we completed our mission objectives."

Although this last mission marked the end of an era, both Ferguson and Walheim said the space program lives on.

"There still will be manned space flight," said Walheim. "There's a cadre of astronauts in training."

Ferguson talked about NASA's James Webb Space Telescope program - a telescope that will orbit a million miles from Earth.

"If something breaks on that telescope, someone is going to have to fix it."